MySims Cozy Bundle Review - Screenshot 1 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Released in 2007 by EA Redwood Shores, MySims was an attempt to capitalise on the increasing popularity of Animal Crossing (the excellent Wild World had released two years prior). A chibi-styled spin-off from the main Sims franchise, this series skewed towards a younger audience and had players rejuvenate a community with friendship and brightly coloured furniture.

MySims Cozy Bundle pairs the original release with MySims Kingdom, an expansive sequel with a medieval theme. Switch isn’t exactly wanting for a chilled-out town builder. All of the genre's greatest examples already live on Nintendo’s console. What does this remaster bring to the table that makes it a worthy alternative to the likes of Tom Nook’s Debt Simulator and the seminal Stardew Valley?

The answer to that is complicated. MySims offers a Simlish spin on the formula, with mechanics simple enough for youngsters to grasp. Veterans won’t find anything new here, but these titles provide a workmanlike and often compulsive experience.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

In the first title in this bundle, you kick things off by creating a Mii-esque Sim and naming your town. From there you meet Mayor Rosalyn, who gives you a brief tour and sets you to work on some errands. Your role as caretaker has you building accommodation, commercial establishments, and sundry items to adorn interiors.

Building uses a blueprint system that recalls the Gummi Ship editor in Kingdom Hearts. Manipulating components on a 3D grid, you snap designs into place, piece by piece. Builds have a base requirement of parts to be considered complete, but where you go from there is up to you. There’s no limit beyond the required components, leaving you free to create works of art or abominations. The longevity of these games will ultimately hinge on how much you want to experiment with the tools you're given.

Around town you’ll pick up everyday items that can be used for 'essences'. These collectibles expand your paint palette, allowing you to decorate build items. Most objectives will require items to be adorned with specific essences, and this forms the fetch quest at the hearts of MySims.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Completing build tasks will level up the town, bringing other Sims flocking to your flourishing burg. As you grow the community, the mayor will give you the means to expand into the surrounding areas. This introduces various biomes, unlocking more tasks and more Sims in the process. It’s a familiar loop, but a well-presented one. The build menu is a bit fiddly to start with, but once you’ve got the hang of it, whacking together designs will become second nature.

MySims is a breezy time overall, with a reduced maintenance demand and less persistent goals than its genre peers.

In traditional Sims fashion, MySims Kingdom takes the systems of its predecessor and wraps them in a narrative-driven theme. In this pseudo-fantasy adventure, you are a newly appointed Wandolier. Able to conjure and manipulate objects into, you guessed it, buildings and furniture.

You are sent out into an archipelago by King Roland, to repair and expand his realm. Your quest isn’t as lonesome this time around - you’ll have Lyndsey and Buddy (the bumbling bellhop from MySims) joining you the entire time.

MySims Cozy Bundle Review - Screenshot 4 of 5
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

There’s an increased sense of exploratory freedom in Kingdom, making this an odd hybrid of social sim and adventure game. After a light tutorial, it quickly opens up into a relatively freeform structure. Rather than completing tasks to grow the population of a single town, here you are improving an already populated set of islands. Travel options are limited at the start, but soon you’ll be hopping all over the kingdom.

The building system is also improved over the stop-start inventory tennis of MySims. You can use your wand at any point in the world, bringing up a build menu that you select from using a floating cursor. All housing and items can be built on the fly, rather than being locked into a blueprint mode.

Your creation abilities are also called upon to solve environmental puzzles, which adds a bit more variation to progression. Essences are still a thing, with many build tasks requiring a specific aesthetic to pass muster.

Originally DS and Wii titles, these games have been well-optimised for Switch. The simplistic, chunky art style isn’t exactly demanding, but the stability is flawless nonetheless. The blocky environments and character models in particular feel at home on the Switch display. There are some minor inconsistencies with the sound mix. The sharp chimes emitted by item pick-ups are over-emphasised, while characters' Simlish babbling is muffled.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Sadly, there's a glaring omission in this remaster that impacts the overall experience - lack of motion control. Considering both these games were released on Wii and a large portion of your time will be spent manipulating an on-screen cursor, it feels baffling that this wasn't included.

Conclusion

The MySims games work as a simple, less demanding alternative to other social sims. The generous and (mostly) well-presented combo of MySims and its more entertaining sequel will occupy youngsters and genre completionists for a long time. The lack of motion controls is puzzling, but this remains an engaging, easygoing pair of Sims spin-offs.

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